


Simply Mesh-merizing

by harpydora



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Chime OT4, F/M, FatT NBslash Exchange, Fluff, Kissing, Misuse of Lipstick, Multi, Other, Pre-Canon, Season: COUNTER/Weight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 22:36:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15873099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpydora/pseuds/harpydora
Summary: It starts with a tube of cheap lipstick. Aria can't find her normal brand in a pinch, so she grabs the most appealing color off of the department store display. Its name is "Simply Mesh-merizing," a color that none of the rest of the Chime are surprised to find graces Aria's lips.





	Simply Mesh-merizing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [growlery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/gifts).



> For growlery for FatT NBslash Exchange! Have some ridiculous Aria/Cass/Mako/AuDy quasi-platonic fluff!

It starts with a tube of cheap lipstick. Aria can't find her normal brand in a pinch, so she grabs the most appealing color off of the department store display. Its name is "Simply Mesh-merizing," a color that none of the rest of the Chime are surprised to find graces Aria's lips.

Except it doesn't just grace Aria's lips. The lipstick is a cheap off-brand affair that would fail every makeup longevity test known to man and Divine. It doesn't just grace Aria's lips, it ends up _everywhere._ Most notably, it ends up on Mako, Cass, and AuDy.

*

The first time it ends up on Mako isn't an accident, exactly, but Aria feels like she can't be blamed for it.

"Mako, I'm dying," she says plaintively from her position on the sofa in the _Kingdom Come's_ common room. Her head is half-propped up with pillows, and her legs are propped up on the arm of the couch. A pastel floral cast covers her left leg from the knee down. "Can't you just let me have the back scratcher for two minutes? No, one minute. All I need is _one minute_ so I don't die."

Mako, from his perch in one of the armchairs, shakes his head. "No can do. Cass said you're not supposed to scratch, and I'm not about to piss them off."

"C'mon, _please?_ " She draws out the 'please' for extra effect. "I won't tell them if you don't. Promise."

When Mako remains unmoved, she changes tactics. "If you don't let me have that back scratcher for thirty seconds, I'll tell Cass what happened to their cashmere sweater."

That does the trick; Mako goes pale and hops up out of the chair. Within moments, the back scratcher is in her hand and she's able to slide it inside the cast to finally— _finally_ —take care of the itch she's had for the past four hours.

After about half a minute, she holds the back scratcher out to Mako. When he goes to take it, she snags his hand and tugs him down so they're at eye-level with each other. "Wha—?"

"Thank you," Aria says. "You're the best." And she presses an appreciative kiss to his cheek.

When she lets him go, he raises a hand to his where she'd kissed, his expression something between surprised and thoughtful. His fingertips come away tinted Simply Mesh-merizing.

*

The first time it ends up on Cass, Aria could probably blame the painkillers if she wanted. But she doesn't.

Her shoulder throbs from where she'd taken a bullet there, but the pain is distant. Cass got to her quickly and they'd stashed a medi-kit in the get-away car. As if they'd known someone would need medical attention.

Considering their track record and Aria's current state, it was a safe bet.

They've already cut off most of her shirt and given her the injection of painkillers by the time they apply a topical anesthetic to the area round the bullet wound. Everything feels far off and hazy.

"Am I gonna live?" she slurs, mostly joking.

Cass huffs, glaring less at her and more at the hole in her shoulder. They've got a pair of forceps to extract the bullet. "You're going to be fine," they say in an irritated, clipped tone. The hand not holding the forceps presses gently down on her shoulder. "Hold still. This is going to feel weird."

Aria laughs, in part because Cass's concentrating face is pinched in an endearing way and in part because it isn't like this is the first time they've been in this position. Aria's status as a pop idol seems to make her an appealing target for gunfire.

She hisses through her teeth when Cass starts digging for the bullet, balling her hands up into fists until her nails dig into her palms. But it's over quickly enough and Cass is filling the wound with medical foam to keep her from bleeding out. The foam is cold, but it beats the alternative.

"Thanks, Cass," Aria says with a dopey grin. "You're my favorite doctor."

Huffing again, Cass turns away. They strip off their gloves and toss them into a bag with the bullet. There's no sense in leaving evidence in their get-away vehicle when they plan on ditching it soon.

Aria reaches out and grabs the sleeve of their tunic. It's a little singed, but she pays that no mind. "I mean it," she says as seriously as she can manage.

"I'm the only doctor on the ship," Cass grumbles.

Feeling more than a little put out, Aria's grin turns into a weak glare. She pulls on Cass's sleeve until their hand is near her face, and she plants an aggressive kiss on the back of it. "There," she declares triumphantly. "I don't kiss any other doctors."

Cass's face softens as they tug their sleeve out of Aria's grasp. "Okay, I get it. I'm your favorite doctor. Now keep as still as you can until we get back to the _Kingdom Come_ and I can finish getting you patched up."

When they make it back and Cass washes up, the lipstick disappears from the back of their hand. But after they're done, Aria thinks she can see them touching the place where it had been.

*

Maybe it's silly that she gets some of it on AuDy, but it seems only fair that it happen at some point.

For all that AuDy had been a parking robot, they are a terrible driver. Which probably makes sense; parking and driving aren't the same thing. Despite this, they're the one behind the wheel while Aria, Cass, and Mako huddle together in the back seat with their target: a genetically modified dog that was meant to be a listening device.

"Hold on to something," AuDy says mere seconds before they jerk the wheel to one side and send everyone in the back seat lurching to one side. The turn is sharp enough that Aria almost thinks the car will flip over, but they make it through and speed down a narrow alley before careening onto the main thoroughfare. The dog in Aria's lap (Einstein, if the tag is to be believed) lets out an irritable bark.

Their destination is a safehouse in the suburbs of Centralia. The client evidently believes that security comes from being the blandest town home on the block. But they somehow, through sheer dumb luck and AuDy's driving being so awful that it loops back around to brilliant, make it back to the rendezvous point while also shaking their tail.

Once they're inside, Einstein wriggles out of Mako's grip and trots over to AuDy. He looks up and makes a plaintive sort of noise while pawing at one of their feet.

"I don't know what you want," AuDy tells him.

Cass smirks. "I think he wants you to pick him up."

"Maybe he wants to say thank you," Aria adds.

Einstein yips in the affirmative and paws at AuDy's foot again.

AuDy bends at the waist to stare down at the dog. "I will not pick you up."

When Einstein starts whining, Aria kneels next to him and scratches behind his ears. "Aww, it's okay. I'll thank them for you." Then she leans up just enough so she can plant a kiss on the side of AuDy's head.

The mark she leaves is sloppy and crooked and only vaguely resembles her lips, but AuDy makes no move to wipe it away until well after they've reunited Einstein with their client.

*

After that, the floodgates open. The first tube of Simply Mesh-merizing runs out and is replaced by a second. Aria takes great pride in her work, rewarding her teammates with lipstick marks for whatever reason takes her fancy: a job completed, a favor done, relief that a failed job did not result in major injury, and just because.

Mako begins to make a show of dodging her affections, but that's all it is. He grins when Aria manages to leave lipstick on his cheek or his forehead or his shoulder, even as he tries to make a scandalized face. When he tries to push her face away, he just gets lipstick on his palm for his trouble.

Cass pretends to bristle, and maybe some of it isn't an act. They always stiffen up when Aria stands on her tiptoes to kiss them, as if it's somehow a shock that she'd even try. It makes a part of her chest ache every time, but the way Cass softens after a heartbeat makes it a little better in the end.

AuDy… Well, they've always been difficult to read, but they've never hesitated to express displeasure. They don't try to dodge, and they're always stiff, but… Maybe it's her imagination, but sometimes Aria thinks she catches them leaning into her ever so slightly when she goes in for a smooch. At the very least, they don't tell her to stop.

*

It's only a matter of time before they all retaliate. There's no telling whose idea it is at first, though it has Mako's fingerprints all over it. Or maybe lipstick-prints is a better term.

Whoever planned it, it's AuDy who instigates. They stand at the threshold of her quarters and wait until she's reached a quiet point in the song she's working on mixing. "You're needed in the infirmary," they inform her, deadpan.

She glances up from her audio equipment, but AuDy's body language betrays nothing. Suspicious, she saves her work. "Okay… what's up?"

"Cass requires your assistance." No inflection for Aria to read. Her suspicion grows.

Aria turns off her equipment and stands up. "Okay," she repeats.

She follows them to the infirmary; or rather AuDy ushers her in that direction as if they're afraid she won't actually go there without supervision. When she reaches it, Mako is sitting on one of the beds, kicking his feet, while Cass has their back turned to the door. They fidget with something Aria can't see.

"What's going on…?" Aria asks. "Why are you guys acting so weird?"

Mako turns to face her, and she realizes exactly what's going on. He hasn't applied it particularly well, but Mako's lips are the unmistakeable shade of Simply Mesh-merizing. He grins and hops off the bed. "It's time for revenge!" he crows as he rushed Aria. He throws his arms around her neck and peppers her face with sloppy kisses, leaving most of his lipstick all over her skin. Aria can't help but giggle helplessly in the face of the assault.

While she is occupied with Mako, Aria fails to notice Cass until it's too late. They take one of her hands in theirs and raise it to their lips. When they're done, they've left a perfect impression of their lips across her knuckles in the same Mesh-merizing color.

Mako glances over and rolls his eyes. "Oh come on, you can do better than _that,_ " he says.

Cass's expression grows pinched with irritation. "You're hogging all the prime real estate."

"'Prime real-estate?'" Aria echoes, arching an eyebrow. Cass flushes.

"Well why didn't you say something?" He lets his arms slide off Aria's shoulders and steps back a half-step. "She's all yours."

Cass sighs and steps closer so they can lean down and leave another impeccable imprint of their lips high on Aria's cheek. "There, happy?" they say to Mako.

"Nope," Aria interrupts, tilting her head towards them. "You missed a spot. You've gotta make it even now."

"That's right," says Mako. "You gotta."

Shifting so they can reach, Cass leans over to kiss Aria's other cheek. The angle's all wrong for something neat, and when Cass comes away, their lipstick is smeared just a little. It's not a bad look, Aria thinks.

Mako glances over at AuDy, who still stands near the door. "Well, what do you think? Should we keep going?" AuDy makes a non-committal sound in response.

Over her shoulder, Aria says, "What, you're not gonna jump in?"

"I cannot participate, so Mako volunteered to perform my share of the revenge," AuDy informs her evenly. "He is performing adequately."

"Aww, thanks buddy. Glad I can be adequate for you." Mako rolls his eyes again, but he's still grinning.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tube of lipstick; Aria watches him reapply it before he drags Cass closer.

"What are you—" But Cass's words are cut off as Mako leaves a haphazard kiss on their cheek.

"Surprise attack," Mako says, grinning.

Cass stands there for a moment, gobsmacked. "This wasn't part of the plan!" they object.

"Maybe not _your_ plan." Mako smooches their cheek again.

Not willing to let Mako have all the fun, Aria reapplies her own lipstick.

*

Things settle down after that. Eventually, Aria returns to her normal brand, which stays on no matter the conditions. But she always keeps a spare tube of Simply Mesh-merizing in her makeup kit. Just in case.


End file.
